The first speed bump slowed down the Tigers, but the second rerouted them altogether.

The Marshalltown Community College men’s basketball team got out to a fast start but couldn’t sustain it in a 71-59 loss to Western Iowa Tech on Wednesday night at the Student Activity Center.

The Tigers (4-13) jumped off the starting line and got out to a 16-7 lead on the Comets after the first 11 minutes of play, but a defensive strategy change by Western Iowa Tech (6-9) slowed down MCC’s quick display of momentum.

The Comets’ 2-3 zone hampered the Tigers to the point of a 10-0 run for WIT, and MCC’s offense had only abbreviated moments of rhythym from that point on.

Western Iowa Tech closed the first half on a 21-6 run to turn a 16-7 deficit into a 28-22 lead at the intermission.

The Comets’ leading scorer Caleb Kalewa started to assert himself in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 22 points after the break on his way to an impactful double-double that did the Tigers in.

“I thought we held him in check in the first half, did a really good job on him,” said MCC head coach Ryan Flack. “He’s the ideal JUCO player — he’s just a tough matchup. He’s strong, he’s physical, he plays with a relentless motor.

“They went on their run and our transition defense really broke down there for a good stretch, and that’s where they pulled away a little bit.”

Kawela, who ranks fourth among the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference’s Division II scoring leaders (18.6 ppg), pulled down 10 rebounds, including four offensive, three of which he turned into putback buckets of his own.

The Tigers got clobbered on the boards, 33-18, as their size disadvantage rang true.

“Credit to those guys, they’re a good team,” Flack said. “They’re coming off two really big wins. I thought we played hard, played as a team, but they did go to the zone and I thought we got really stagnant. I thought the ball stuck a little bit, and the ball moves the zone.”

Leading 28-22 at the break, Western Iowa Tech came out of the locker room in man-to-man defense and couldn’t shake the Tigers. MCC found success from outside the 3-point line again, just as it did to start the game, and got to within 43-41 on a trey by Tre’Von Coney.

Kawela’s post presence was more than MCC could account for, and he kicked off an 11-0 run for the Comets for the next three minutes.

Western Iowa Tech quickly regained a 63-45 advantage and cruised to the victory from there. MCC got no closer than 12 points over the final 6:45 of the game.

“I thought we did some good things to pull it back, but at the same time it was just too far out of reach,” Flack said. “I didn’t think we quite had the firepower to finish it out.”

Tom Guma made four 3-pointers and finished with a team-leading 18 points for the Tigers, while Coney was the only other MCC player in double figures with 12 points. Guma’s four 3-pointers were his career high, while Coney finished with six assists to just one turnover.

“I think Coney had a solid game,” Flack said. “I thought he did a lot of good things in the minutes he played … and did a lot of really good things to lead our team.

“I think it was encouraging to see Tom Guma finally break free. He’d struggled there toward the end of the first half of the year.”

The Tigers were without one of their leading scorers in sophomore guard Antoine Glasper as well as playing their first game back after the holiday break. Western Iowa Tech, which rode a six-game losing streak into the break, won their third in a row after the turn of the calendar.

Marshalltown’s game was its first of six-straight at home in January as the Tigers play seven of eight games in the month on their home court. Their next outing is Monday at 7 p.m. against NJCAA D-II No. 18 Kirkwood.

“It’s a long two months left, but I think there’s so much time for us to get better individually,” Flack said. “We’ve got to focus on what it is we do well, and how can we continue to maximize those things? We can always play better, we can execute better, and we can decrease the margin to help us out.”

Western Iowa Tech 71, MCC 59

WESTERN IOWA TECH (6-9) — Pittman 2-2 0-0 4, Lloyd 3-7 3-4 10, Kawela 11-15 0-0 22, Svoboda 5-11 3-3 15, Bonfis 2-3 0-0 4, Vereen-Burton 0-0 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0, Sideregts 3-5 0-0 6, Bell 4-6 1-2 10, Karla 0-0 0-0 0, Dragojevic 0-1 0-0 0, Bosanek 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 30-52 7-9 71.

MCC (4-13) — Coney 5-9 0-3 12, Christopher 1-8 1-2 4, Guma 6-11 2-2 18, Bush 3-7 2-2 8, Rhodes 2-5 0-0 4, Conway 1-2 2-2 4, Mathern 0-0 0-0 0, St. Vil 1-2 0-0 2, Djeric 3-5 1-2 7. TOTALS 22-49 8-13 59.

Halftime–Western Iowa Tech 28-22. 3-Point Goals–Western Iowa Tech 4-14 (Svoboda 2-7, Lloyd 1-2, Bell 1-2, Kawela 0-1, Bosanek 0-2), MCC 7-20 (Guma 4-6, Coney 2-6, Christopher 1-3, Rhodes 0-1, Conway 0-1, St. Vil 0-1, Bush 0-2). Rebounds–Western Iowa Tech 33 (Kawela 10), MCC 18 (Guma, Bush 4). Total Fouls–Western Iowa Tech 14, MCC 9. Fouled Out–none.